Broccoli and Cheddar Tart

A while back I made Martha Rose Shulman's spinach and onion tart, and I liked the proportion of crust to filling so much that it's quickly becoming one of my go-to ways to use up little bits and pieces I have left over from other meals. This time, I buried crisp-tender broccoli florets in a Cheddary custard base. This is a great grab-and-go, perfect-at-room-temperature-or-straight-from-the-fridge mini-meal to have on hand.

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I started by turning on the oven to preheat to 350F, then fitted my thawed prepared crust into my 10-inch tart pan. When I unrolled the crust it had cracked, but I sandwiched it between 2 pieces of wax paper and rolled a rolling pin over it a bit until it was smooth and uniform. The crust was much larger than the pan, so I folded down the excess to shore up the sides. I put the crust in the fridge while the oven came to temperature. Then I made the custard: 4 eggs, 3/4 cup milk, 1/2 teaspoon salt, some fresh thyme (because I had it on hand) and about a cup of shredded Cheddar cheese.

I scattered my par-cooked broccoli over the chilled crust, then poured the custard mixture in. I baked at 350F for about 40 minutes, and it was puffed up, yet firm, when I took it out. I let it cool on the stovetop most of the morning, then had myself a nice little lunch.

The kids won't touch this, but I could eat the whole thing myself. The tender crust dominates, with just enough cheese-and-broccoli filling to make things interesting. I'm going to keep using this one.